Texas school district eyes Triad teachers

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Educators who brought their resumes to the latest job fair in Greensboro could be willing to cross the country for their next job.

The Houston Independent School District held a job fair for Triad area educators Thursday.

Informational packets handed out to job seekers showed the starting pay for these jobs at $49,100. That’s above the average pay for teachers in North Carolina which is $45,737 and ranks the state among the worst in the nation for average teacher salary.

Some who showed up for the presentation said there are other reasons besides the pay to relocate.

“The retirement package they’re offering, the medical plan they’re offering, the cost of living is cheaper in Texas,” said Germaine Cousar.

Cousar said there are also negatives to consider before agreeing to a job more than 1,000 miles away.

“It’s just about if you really want to take your family and move that far away,” said Cousar.

Turnout for the event, according to the physical education teacher, was a little lighter than what he expected. He said around 50 people stuck around for interviews with H.I.S.D leaders.

Other teachers said they were surprised they recognized as many colleagues as they did because they didn’t expect as many experienced teachers to be drawn to the job fair.

The job fair also drew people like Jackson Curtis, who has been frustrated by state cutbacks cost him his teacher’s assistant job.

“I think it’s pretty pathetic that North Carolina can’t pay their teachers,” said Curtis. “People like me are willing to move halfway across the country to find a job that is willing to pay them enough.”

This is the second time the H.I.S.D. has been in North Carolina this summer seeking job candidates. This latest trip will take them to Charlotte on Friday.

H.I.S.D. said they have an immediate need for bilingual education, science and math teachers.

The voice of reason

NobodyAtAll

Yep, losers they are..Especially if they remain in NC..So they really do need to go to Texas, or Tennessee, or SC, or Virginia, where they will instantly become winners..The list goes on and on..And teachers as well as people from many other professions will always be losers should they stay in NC..NC, the 1970’s land of nowhere..

david esmay

Ghost

Nobody is packing up and moving cross country for $40 more per week. The total compensation package is what’s appealing to them and the NC package should be more competitive since we were sold the idea of the “NC Education Lottery” as the solution to all our learning and teaching problems.